Autopsy: Death row inmate who killed Sebastian couple 30 years ago died of severe illness

VERO BEACH — The convicted killer of a Sebastian couple murdered 30 years ago died in state prison of a severe illness, complicated by liver damage, according to a state autopsy released this week.

Jim Chandler, 55, died March 5 while on death row at the Union Correctional Institution, Raiford, said Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff.

His 201-pound body has since been cremated. His remains were returned to a relative, state officials said.

The examination showed Chandler had a very large brain abscess that led to sepsis, which is a severe illness where bacteria overwhelms the bloodstream, according to the autopsy by Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelian Nicolaescu. The abscess showed signs of infection.

The report also said Chandler had pneumonia, liver damage and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. His medical history included hepatitis C and diabetes, the report showed.

His relative in Deerfield Beach couldn’t be reached for comment about the death.

In May 1981, Chandler was convicted of the first-degree murder of Harold Steinberger, 76, and his wife, Rachel, 73, at their home in Sebastian the morning of July 20, 1980. They were bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat and then each stabbed seven times, court records show.

The couple moved to Sebastian from South Florida to escape crime, investigators said.

The afternoon of their deaths, Chandler sold the couple’s belongings at a bar for less than $100, according to court records.

At the time Chandler was on parole from a 20-year sentence in a kidnapping-robbery in Texas. In that case, Chandler severely battered a man, leaving his victim unconscious.

His murder case has gone through a number of appeals including one that was still pending before the Florida Supreme Court.

If rejected, he then could have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but an official with the state’s Commission on Capital Cases said his appeals probably would have been exhausted in a year. The governor would have had to reactivate his death warrant and set a date for an execution.

The costs of keeping Chandler on Death Row since his conviction weren’t available. However, based on state Capital Collateral Commission estimates in 2008, housing Chandler on Death Row since his conviction could have totaled $700,000.